putting up a separate journal just for the contest, please scroll down for the details.

~siragiku sensei is doing a haiku for every haiku memo submitted to this contest, translations and commentary will be done by me.

some samples:

haiku memo by ~siragiku
句帳には醤油の沁みや山滴る
_{kuchou ni wa shouyu no shimi ya yama shitataru}
stain of soy sauce on haiku memo-
mountain trills.

yama shitataru is a spring kigo.
shitataru refers to the dripping of water from thawing plants which is commonplace after a long winter.

in this case this word choice seems to be even more interesting considering the 'drip' of soy sauce on the memo: so my sensei is the mountain and he dripped soy sauce.

Haiku memo by ~moyanII
スコールの言葉を黙り句帳かな
_{sukooru no kotoba wo damari kuchou kana}
the words of squall silenced-
a haiku memo.

sukooru is a direct transliteration of 'squall'. it is a summer kigo and according to the poet, it fits his impression of singapore.
it is also an attempt to play around with my dA username 'moyan' which means 'silent words' in kanji.
well, it's too much of a flattery. how could my humble haiku attempt silence a storm?

Trashed by *HaikuKitty
新聞に句帳を乗せて風薫る
_{shimbun ni kuchou wo nosete kaze kaoru}

haiku memo laid upon newspaper-
the fragrant wind.

kazekaoru is a summer kigo.
i'm not sure if the poet knows that the newspaper and haiku memo were in the trash bin.
if he did, that will mean the 'fragrant wind' has somewhat humorously ironic implication.

here's 6 contest entries (most recent one first). newer ones are added to more recent journal:

Journaling on the Deck by *HaikuKitty
水無月や虹色文字の句帳手に
_{minatsuki ya nijiiro moji no kuchou te ni}
to the waterless june-
rainbow written in words
on the haiku memo.

minatsuki is a summer kigo that refers to the month of june. literally it could mean 'the waterless month'. during june, it is midsummer time and farmers customarily start to irrigate their field and hence the name.
'waterless june' in contrast to 'rainbow' (associated with water from the heaven) and the 'deck' (i took this to be a ship deck, which supposedly float on a large body of water) is an interesting comparison.

haiku sketchbook by *Esin
愛の種を飾る句帳や桜の実
_{ai no shu wo kazaru kuchou ya sakura no mi}
haiku memo
decorated with seed of love-
the fruitage of sakura.

the season of spring and sakura blossoms are said to promote feelings of love and romance and hence boost fertility.
'seed' and 'fruit' refer to the joy of bringing forth and nurturing a son.
i am liking the heart-warming moment depicted in this visual poetry.

Haiku Tuesday by ~RedDragonfly
五月雨や句帳の中は青の青
_{samidare ya kuchou no naka wa ao no ao}

rain in may-
blue on blue
in the haiku memo.

this one seems a little melancholic.
rainy season in may tends to make one feel blue. of course, the dragonfly notebook in the photo has sky-blue pages and has haiku written in blue ink!
and, a hurt pet horse certainly add a tint of worry and moodiness to the atmosphere.

Haiku Stages by *Aqua-rat
聖五月何度もSの句帳かな
_{seigogatsu nando mo esu no kuchou kana}
the holy month of may-
a haiku memo full of 's'.

the haiku on the memo skilfully employs alliteration. when read, 's' sound keeps seeping out from in between the teeth.
although i would think that the whiteness, the blank of the notebook in the photo as well as the imagery due to the content of the haiku, is already mesmerizing enough.

Haiku Notebooks by *Bogbrush
文様や句帳に桜しべ降る日　
_{monyou ya kuchou ni sakura shibe furu hi}
a sigil-
the day when sakura petals
fall on haiku memo.

oh yes, the pretty pattern on that left bottom corner do draw the most attention. it resembles an ancient japanese family crest and hence the word monyou, translated 'sigil'.

My geeky haiku notepad by =Iscariot-Priest
方眼の理論の夏や句帳記す
_{hougan no riron no natsu ya kuchou kisu}

a summer of theory on squared paper-
record in the haiku memo.

'squared' gives the impression of being prim and proper. i think ~siragiku san has the idea that qishin is a studious and very hardworking poet.

i think the same.

>>>>>>>>>>........<<<<<<<<<<

a call to all haijin!!

please dig into your treasury of handwritten haiku.
take a photo of any handwritten copy of your own haiku and post them under 'visual poetry'.

i would love to see raw entry that portrays that moment, your style and speaks out your emotions.

make this into a contest? why not! yes, i'll be giving out a gift art to the winner of this haiku memo visual poetry contest.
more prizes:
journal features by =Iscariot-Priest, and =Lit-Twitter
3 months' sub from *HaikuKitty
a hard copy of "snow in singapore" from ~KorpiHunaja
3 months' sub from `MSJames
journal feature by ~TimeFlies

if you like to donate a prize, you are most welcome to drop me a note.
when there are more prizes we can open up more places in the contest for participants to win.
prizes, please come rolling in!

if you are taking part in this contest, please submit your photo to the visual poetry section and note me. you can submit up to three entries, although, if more places are introduced to the contest, only one of your entries could win.

deadline: latest entry submitted to me in a dA note will be accepted before singapore standard time 00:00 july 1st, 2009. (UTC +8:00)

here's an additional incentive to participate:
~siragiku sensei is writing a haiku for every entry submitted in support of this contest!

the haiku are all in his journal entry here: [link]

the panel of judges:



i hope more people will participate. please help me spread the word. thank you very much!

~*~*~*~*~

haiku translation index

my default account where i post my visual art

my art projects:
project Resonance
project Rendevous
The Law for the Wolves
the 5th season
Journey
project KARUTA 2007
KARUTA cards available for sale
Ink Fragrance
Snow in Singapore